Moneybagg Yo Dedicates New Track to NBA Star Ja Morant

Moneybagg Yo is supporting the home team.

Memphis rap and NBA basketball are colliding at a critical time for the city. The hip-hop scene, famous for acts like Three 6 Mafia, is seeing a resurgence with artists like Pooh Shiesty, Key Glock, and of course, Moneybagg Yo.

Simultaneously, the city’s NBA team, the Memphis Grizzlies, has entered an exciting new era. Led by 21-year-old Ja Morant, they are back in the playoffs. Tonight, they face possible elimination in Game 5 against the top seeded Utah Jazz.

It’s all about the Rookie of the Year.

In the midst of all this, Moneybagg Yo has released a new track supporting Morant and the Grizzlies. He dropped “Rookie of the Year” on Tuesday. Of course, Morant was given the same name by the NBA for his outstanding ’19-’20 rookie season.

Fresh off a Billboard #1 album, Yo naturally spends most of the track dropping bars relating to the young star. He raps, “Go so hard they got to retire my number (Big 12) / Unranked underdog, trained to go when I ball.” It’s a call to Morant’s humble beginnings in South Carolina. He entered his college career at Murray State after being unranked as a high school basketball prospect.

Morant has been putting up historical performances, becoming the fourth NBA player to score at least 100 points in their first three playoff games. He also has a new documentary, “Promiseland,” premiering tomorrow on Crackle.

Time will tell if he takes inspiration from Moneybagg Yo’s track to force a Game 6 against Utah in the playoffs this week.

Stream “Rookie of the Year” on YouTube below.

Andrew “Jetlag” Preisig | IG @ThankYouJetlag | Twitter @ThankYouJetlag